Information Services

Illustrated sources: Art and architecture

Art Union

Content: Supported the values of the Royal Academy, which it took to be synonymous with British art. Edited by Samuel Carter Hall, it retained its reputation as the voice of the art establishment when it became the Art Journal in 1849. Featured art news (UK and in Europe), art related articles (new printing techniques, historical pieces, artist biographies), book reviews, advertisements.

Illustration: Small wood engraving insets illustrate articles.

Art Journal

Content: The Art Journal, published in London, was the most important Victorian magazine on art. It became notable for its honest portrayal of fine arts. The early issues of the magazine strongly supported the artists of The Clique, and after 1850 it became associated with opposition to the emerging Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), which it considered to be a reactionary movement. Its articles attacked the PRB and its supporter John Ruskin.

Magazine of Art Illustrated

Date range: 1881-1885; 1887-1903

First published: 1878

Frequency: Monthly

Price: By subscription

Content: The Magazine of Art was an illustrated monthly British journal devoted to the visual arts. It included reviews of exhibitions, articles about artists, with biographies and examples of their work, and all branches of the visual arts, as well as articles on poetry, travel and costume.

Finding aids: List of engraving and plates at front of volume.

Illustration: Lavishly illustrated by leading engravers of the period. Wood engraving and photogravure.

Sketch

Date range: 1894

First published: 1893

Frequency: Weekly

Price: 6d

Content: The Sketch, a journal of art and actuality, focused on high society, the aristocracy, theatre, cinema and art studies. ‘Ladies’ pages’ in each issue showcase the latest fashions. It was in a large format and around 50 pages long, including advertising.

Illustration: It featured both engravings and photographs, with many studies of society ladies and their children, as well as reproducing popular artworks.

Year’s Art

Content: The Year’s Art, founded 1880, was an annual compendium of activity in the visual arts in Britain and beyond. It includes brief descriptions of major art societies and exhibitions listings, as well as advertisements.

Illustration: Illustrated selections from exhibitions in a ‘collage’ format. A couple of plates, fairly poor quality.

Yellow book

Date range: 1894-1897

First published: 1894

Frequency: Quarterly

Price: 5 shillings

Content: A high quality illustrated quarterly, co-edited by Aubrey Beardsley, it included a combination of fin de siècle art and literature. The Yellow Book was a new kind of journal – each volume was book length, and expensively produced in hardback with illustrated yellow covers. A book in yellow wrappers, carried by Oscar Wilde during his arrest in 1895, was mistaken for The Yellow Book, and an angry mob attacked its publisher’s offices. Beardsley was sacked due to his association with Wilde as the illustrator of Salome, thus he only contributed to the first four issues.

Illustration: Each volume featured an iconic monochrome Beardsley illustration on the bright yellow covers, and within, contained plates showcasing the latest art, including many of Beardsley’s own works.

Marburger index

Date range: 1850-1900

Content: The Marburger Index is a photographic collection of German art as well as art from other countries owned by German institutions. The geographic reach of the Index has expanded to include non-German regions whose history has been closely connected with Germany.

Finding aids: A CD-ROM is available. The index is arranged topographically according to geographic sites, and has indices for artists, portraits, topography, and subjects.

Illustration: The collection consists of around 1.8 million images of black-and-white photographs, taken from 1850 onwards, illustrating architecture, painting, sculpture, and arts and crafts from classical to modern times.